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POLL: Children or No Children?

Discussions on whether or not to invite children to your wedding can become passionate. Those with children tend to want them there whilst, those without children want to avoid the screaming, the messing and the ruining

The important thing to remember when deciding whether to invite children to your wedding or not, is to ask yourself what do you want?

Forget about the expectations of your family and friends, this is your day, your special memories to be made with you and your partner. So rather than deliberating on the will I, won’t I, ask yourself do I, don’t I!

Children can be a lot of fun at weddings, they can be great for photographs and tend to come into their own on the dance floor, providing entertainment for the rest of your guests! On the flip side, long periods of sitting still and being quiet can be difficult for them as they naturally have very short attention spans.

BE CLEAR

So weigh up the pros and cons and then be clear on your guest list parameters when sending out your invites. The one thing you want to avoid is the drama of “Why wasn’t my child invited?!”

It’s OK to just want your nieces and nephews and those of your finance’s there, you don’t have to invite everyone else’s nieces and nephews! Stay strong and if questioned, be honest. It would be impossible to include everyone, limiting the guest list limits the cost.

On the invite specify whether it’s a family invite or simply name the guests invited, that way there can be no confusion. Don’t let this ruin your plans, besides most parents, if they are honest, enjoy some time out from their kids!

PLANNING

If you do decide to invite children then make sure to seat all parents with children together, that way you don’t run the risk of ruining your single colleague’s day by forcing them to endure lots of kids.

Also, you may think a kids only table is a good idea, but this will very quickly spiral into a nightmare! Unsupervised children sitting together will only lead to one thing… Trouble!

Be sure to keep them entertained and think about offering a kids meal to avoid the moaning and groaning that results in them being faced with something they don’t like!

Keep an eye out for our “10 Fun Ways to Entertain Children At Your Wedding” post, which will be coming soon.

RELAX AND HAVE FUN

Kids are incredibly perceptive, they tend to sense your tension and play up when you really don’t want them to. Encourage good behaviour and reward them for it. They are under their parent’s control so it’s up to them to be vigilant and with all those guests, they won’t want to be made a spectacle off! Relax and go with the flow, the unpredictability of children could make for some great photo opportunities and lasting memories!

Take part in our poll below, we’d love to hear what you really think about children being invited to weddings.